From Beyond the Mountain
by FiliaFlammae
Summary: Zira's childhood was a rough one, but luckily she did have a few friends. This is the story of her time as a cub in the Valley Pride. Watch out for a few 6NA and comic characters!
1. Introduction

"Gotcha!"

The little brown ball of fur collided with the back of Ni's head. He had barely time to shout in surprise before he fell forward and his face was pushed into the dust. He sneezed. He felt his baby brother roll off of his neck and heard his mirthful laughter. He pushed himself up and rubbed his sore nose. The little bugger could be so annoying sometimes.

"Well, you got me again. Feel any prouder?"

Of course the cub didn't answer. He was rolling back and forth on the ground, pounding the dirt with his paws every once in a while. Ni hoped he wasn't going into hysterics.

"Hey. Earth to Malka. Come in, Malka." He prodded his brother in the shoulder. The little brown cub calmed his breathing and righted himself, looking up at his big brother from beneath his incipient mane, a tiny tuft of black fur starting to grow on his forehead.

"You shoulda heard yourself! You, like, _squeaked._ When I pounced on you…you squeaked like a baby! It was so funny…ha haaaa…" Malka gasped and fell victim to a few more seconds of snickering. "I can't believe I got you again! You should get Mum to have your ears checked."

Ni gritted his teeth, but the grimace couldn't help but dissolve into a grin when he looked at his brother. "Sure, go rub it in. I know you love your ears and all, what with those little tufts of yours…"

Malka blushed, his paw straying unconsciously to rub his ear. There were little tufts of black fur growing from the tips of his ears, inherited from his father. They made Malka feel special, as if he were a sleek, clever caracal. There was no way to know if they improved his hearing, but he liked to think they did.

Poor Ni possessed nothing of the sort. His ears were plain and unadorned, like most lions. But the tawny adolescent had the upper paw over Malka. He was older, bigger, and had much more experience. His still-growing mane was dark brown, forming bangs over his forehead and trailing all the way down his neck, where it stopped between his shoulder blades. The area behind his ears was starting to get a little scruffy too, and there was a strip of brown fur appearing on his chest. It wouldn't be long before his mane was that of an adult, full and glorious. But those days hadn't come yet. Most pride members still lumped him with the "kids."

"You could always give me some tips, of course. Wouldn't you love to help your big bro regain his dignity…or rather, lose it." Ni chuckled. "Imagine it. Taking pouncing lessons from my little brother. Oh, the taunts, the teasings! I'd never live it down. I must admit, though," he said, looking Malka in the eyes, "you've been improving really fast. Who's been teaching you? Mum? Dad?"

Malka sat up proudly. "Neither. Kumi's been teaching me. She and Mata and Tomo are all so, you know, good at that kinda stuff. I mean, they're big kids. They can sneak everywhere and surprise anybody…" His voice trailed off in remembered awe. Malka crouched down low and began to creep slowly along the ground, as if stalking an imaginary animal. His expression was one of utter concentration, almost ferocity. Nothing like the bouncy baby Malka that Ni knew so well.

Ni froze, his expression becoming stony. "You've been consorting with _those_ kids?"

Malka sensed the disapproval. His resolve melted and he sat up nervously. "Well…I mean…we've chatted a bit, and they were teaching me how to sneak around real quiet…and they're, you know, respected. Y-you aren't mad, are you?"

"Those three aren't respected; they're _sus_pected. Nobody likes them. The rest of the pride just gives them their own space because they don't want to affiliate with them. Mal, do you even know what those jerks have done?!" He paused for effect. Malka was looking intimidated and guilty.

"B-but, Ni…" he started. "When I'm with them, I feel…brave. They make me feel like I'm worth something, like I'm more that 'That Cub Who Keeps Getting Lost.' Ni, please! You know I can't…" He broke off. "You know how I get so scared when I get lost. I just…I want to be strong!"

He'd played the emotion card. The teenager stroked his little brother's head soothingly, if a little awkwardly. "Mal, it's not worth it. They're not worth it. Trust me in this, Malka! They're snobbish, rude, and flaky, every one of them. In the end, they're not going to help you. I don't want to see you hanging around with them anymore. Am I clear?"

Malka hung his head. "Yes."

Ni sighed. "I just want to protect you. You know that."

"Yes."

"I can't lose you, Mal. You know…you know I love you."

Malka curled up between his brother's paws. "You too, Ni."


	2. The Stoneyards

It had been night for a while, and the last stragglers of the Valley Pride had long since curled up beneath the clump of acacia trees. From the lions' night home, it seemed as if all the world slept, with one exception.

There was a certain cub by the name of Zira in the pride. She was relatively dark-furred for a female, with deeply set, shadowed red eyes and a brown stripe that extended from her forehead to between her shoulders. Even as a cub she was slender but strong; her build could best be described as angular or wiry.

She tossed and turned underneath the stars that night, unable to keep her eyes closed for long. Every once in a while she looked anxiously up at the sky, and every time she curled back up again.

She'd show them. Zira gave a tiny snarl. She'd show them. Tomo was in for a big surprise. She'd go in there, head held high, and kick some tail. Heck yes.

She glanced up at the stars again. Finally! The constellation everyone called The Dog was directly above the silhouetted peak of the mountain. It was time.

Zira rose ever so silently from her place at her mother's side, stretched her legs, and set out at a trot. She was headed for a certain place, an almost legendary place, quite a ways removed from the trees where the pride slept. There would be no unwanted interruptions there, out of sight of the pride.

"Zira!"

She turned in surprise towards the source of the whisper. Another cub was trotting towards her from underneath one of the trees. Like her, he was on the verge of adolescence, and his legs were even longer than Zira's. His fur was a very dark brown color, and a thick set of long black bangs fell in front of his face. When he reached Zira he brushed them impatiently to the left side of his face, exposing one of his blue eyes.

"Nyonda?" she mouthed.

"Zira," the dark cub whispered. "Don't do this."

"Why are you awake?"

"I knew you were going to try to sneak off," he muttered. "I had to stop you. Trust me, Zira. Don't do it."

"I will do it," she hissed. "Did you even hear what Tomo said to me? 'If you're a _real_ lion, you'll meet me at the Stoneyards midnight tonight, alone. If you don't show…'" Zira tensed and raked the ground with her little claws. "Nobody calls me a coward. Nobody. I'm gonna show him I _am_ a real lion, whether he likes it or not!"

"Quiet!" Nyonda hissed, clamping his paw over Zira's mouth. "Do you want to wake up the whole pride?"

"Mmm?" Zira moaned. He interpreted that as a no.

"So what if you don't go to the Stoneyards?" Nyonda whispered, removing his paw from Zira's muzzle. "So what if you don't go face Tomo? They were just messing with you. They're not gonna, like, come after you or anything, I don't think. You may have to live with any rumors they spread, but the pride won't believe them. You know that. Nobody trusts those troublemakers." He looked Zira straight in the eyes. "But if you go fight Tomo, what if you lose? What if you get hurt? Even if you won, there would be _real_ rumors flying around the pride about you." He closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them again. "Answer me this, Zira. Is it worth it?"

Little Zira was silent. She and Nyonda had been best friends since their eyes had opened. Instinctively shunned by the other cubs because of their dark coloring, they'd played only with each other, far away from the others. But this…this was their chance to make the others realize that they were worthy of acceptance. Yet Nyonda had always been so calm and thoughtful, while Zira herself was admittedly a little fiercer, more irascible. She was often victim of "temper flares," as her mother called them, when she felt as if it was someone else entirely, hijacking her body and voice. But Nyonda made sense now, like he always did. She wanted more than anything to be able to heed this soothing voice of reason. Hot tears burned in her eyes. She angrily wiped them away.

"I'm no coward. I'm going there, I'm going to do it. Alone." She turned away from him and ran off towards the Stoneyards.

A protest formed on Nyonda lips, but Zira was already gone. For a few seconds he watched, torpid, as the girl vanished into the night. It was a moment before his mind kicked back into gear. He couldn't just let his best friend run off to meet her doom like that. He couldn't bear to see Zira wounded. He darted after her.

Swift as lightning the cub dashed through the grass. It didn't take long for the leggy youth to catch up to her, but when she came in sight he slowed slightly, cautiously hanging back several yards so she wouldn't hear him following her. For several minutes they proceeded across the plain, Nyonda being careful to not lose sight of Zira. Then all of a sudden, she vanished.

He gasped in panic and put on a burst of speed. What had happened to her?! There had been no sound. He ran forward…and skidded to a halt.

As Nyonda regained his balance, he saw that he was on a rocky ledge. If he'd slid a foot further he'd have fallen some twenty feet. But what he was overlooking! Even in the dark the sight took his breath away.

Below him, in a sort of bowl-shaped valley sunken into the plain, was a maze of rock. The whole thing was cast into eerily beautiful relief by the dim moonlight. Enormous boulders littered the area, with smaller rocks connecting them. The strings of formations created narrow, winding paths along the ground that seemed to have no beginning and no end. If you were in one of those crevices, you wouldn't be able to see anything else. The rocks were too high.

Old stories and myths often circulated the pride, telling of lions throughout the years that had dared enter the maze and were never seen again. It was rumored that their spirits still haunted the place, lost souls doomed to whistle through the channels and chasms for eternity.

Nyonda saw a light patch out of the corner of his eye. He turned towards it and saw Zira below him, right in front of a gap that led into the ominous labyrinth. She turned around uncertainly, as if expecting to see someone behind her. Never before had he seen her face with such profound terror written on it. Her pupils were dilated so wide he thought her irises would soon disappear altogether, and the whites of her eyes showed all the way around. Even her posture was horrified: she was on all fours in a half-crouch with her head low. He could have sworn he heard her breath gasping and heart thundering in his ears before he realized that they were his own. She slowly swung her head away from him and slid into the crevice.

Seized by a sudden fear of losing her, he tensed his legs and sprang from the ledge, aiming for the closest boulder. He landed almost silently on top of the rock, and after only a moment's adjustment jumped across the path below him to another tall rock opposite. Zira was underneath him now. He ducked out of sight right as she cringed and looked up toward him. Crud, he was being too loud. He peered back over the edge several seconds later and saw her several yards further in. She never stopped looking around her warily, and every time she got to a junction she snarled in frustration. Gradually, though, she worked her way to the center.

All this time Nyonda leapt from rock to rock above her head. He could see the paths much better than she could, and it was he who first saw the other cub a ways ahead…and Zira was headed right toward him.

_Tomo_, Nyonda thought.


	3. Tomo's Challenge

The cub Tomo was about the same age as Nyonda, maybe a tiny bit younger. His fur was a pale yellow color that gleamed faintly in the moonlight, and a huge spiky red tuft sprouted up between his ears. The ears themselves were rimmed in black on the inside. He was sitting up straight, head raised to the sky. His brown eyes were narrowed in thought. Nyonda wasn't sure if he was smiling or not. It was too dark to tell. He leapt the last few rocks as stealthily as he could.

Presently there was a sound beneath him. Nyonda looked down, and Tomo's ears perked up as he looked away from the constellations. Zira had inadvertently kicked a small rock in the dark, making even herself flinch. She was obviously terrified to be here. But when she looked up and saw Tomo, she shifted posture and walked straight up to him as proudly as she could manage. Nyonda leaned over the ledge as far as he dared. Tomo seemed to be trying to hide surprise. He clearly hadn't expected Zira to follow up on the dare. But in a second or two his features had slid into a sneer.

"So, you decided to show up."

Zira growled. "I am braver than you realize, Tomo."

Tomo gave a harsh laugh. "Indeed you are, dear Zira. Not many dare enter the Stoneyards alone."

"You asked me to come, and I came. I keep my word. I always do."

Nyonda heard something behind him. He turned and looked down. Something was moving in the pathway behind Zira, a lithe shadow that he couldn't make out. He turned to the other side of the rock. There was one below him on that side too!

"I see," Tomo was saying. "Yeah, loyalty is nice to have. Well, now that you have demonstrated your courage to us, Zira, there are two options…"

Suddenly Nyonda realized what the moving shadows were. Tomo's constant companions, Kumi and Mata! And the three of them had Zira surrounded! He should have known that little sneak would never have come without reinforcement…

Zira suddenly turned around and saw the approaching cubs. Her eyes widened in fear at the sight of the twins. The slightly older girls were stockier and stronger-looking than her, with small ears cocked forward fiercely and sharp teeth exposed to the air. Their fur was an almost shocking off-white. Brilliant green eyes gleamed out from beneath thin brown brows and long black lashes. Nyonda had to admit that they were physically very beautiful, but the oozing animosity hid any possibility of beauty of heart.

Zira knew she didn't have a chance against the twins. She crouched in fear as they walked up to her, glancing worriedly back and forth between the faces of the three cubs that had her closed in.

"You have two choices," Mata stated. She had a high-pitched, supercilious voice. "One: you join us." She and the other two extended their right forearms to each reveal a peculiar scar, a set of pinkish slashes in a crisscross pattern on the inside of the arm above the elbow. Each of them had the same mark. It must have been really painful to receive them.

At this Nyonda lost control. "Don't you dare touch her!" he snarled, leaping from his perch. The four cubs below him all looked up in surprise. Nyonda landed between Zira and Tomo, crouching defensively in front of his friend. A growl rumbled in his throat. "Zira is no gangster. You can't have her."

But Tomo had already regained his composure. He raised his head and laughed, a cold laugh that echoed through the channels. "A protector! Ha! You people amuse me. Who were you to think you could possibly stand up against us?"

There was a sudden flurry of fur and snarls. Zira gasped and covered her head and face with her paws, instinctively pressing herself to the ground. But she felt nothing, no claws on her skin. After a minute or two, which felt like an hour, the night became still again, and Zira dared to peek out from under her paws.

She wished she hadn't.

Mata and Kumi hovered over Nyonda several feet away. All three were dirty and heavily scratched, but Nyonda…Nyonda was lying motionless next to the rock wall. Gleaming red blood welled up in long gashes along his side, running down to the ground in some places. Zira screamed his name and tried to run to him, but felt a heavy, shaking paw on her back.

"Please don't make this any more difficult for us, Zira," Tomo panted, no longer sounding cool and confident. "We've reached the end of our patience."

"As I was saying," Mata began, limping back towards them with Kumi at her side, "you have two choices. You either become one of us, doing anything we need you to, and most importantly telling _nobody_ what you have seen. Acceptance is what you've been wanting, has it not?" She bent down to lick the blood from her paws.

"Or," put in Kumi, her voice somewhat lower and more venomous than that of her sister, "we leave you here to die in the Stoneyards. A secret is a secret. So…" She slid her paw under Zira's chin and pushed her over on her back, pinning her to the ground. She extended her claws to tickle Zira's vulnerable neck threateningly. "Which will it be?"

No question about it. If it had been under any other circumstances, Zira would have opted to live without a second thought. She had always wanted to feel accepted, and if she had to shut her mouth and follow orders to get that, she would. But her eyes strayed to Nyonda's limp body. The blood made gleaming stripes in the moonlight against his near black fur. Tears welled up in her eyes. What if he was--go on, think it--dead? Even if he wasn't, he would be soon.

How could she follow the whims of murderers?

She'd known Nyonda since…well, forever. The only time they were apart was when her mother needed her alone, which was rare. Most of the time they even snuck away to meet at night to chat and sleep next to each other beneath the stars. Oh, she knew the constellations like she knew the back of her paw. Each one brought back a different memory, like the time they decided that the real Dog had an ugly face, or when they turned the River into a snake and gave it wings. How they'd laughed! How they'd smiled and enjoyed themselves until the last of the night-shadows had fled from their bright little sphere of friendship…

How could she bear to live without Nyonda's constant presence? It was impossible to even imagine such a life. It was as if his dark, slightly gangly figure was forever etched in her mind's eye like a crack in a rock: no amount of erosion could make the crack disappear.

And if not life…

"Well?" Kumi demanded roughly, pressing harder on Zira's neck with her paw.

"Then I die here with Nyonda," she whispered. "I'll never join you."

As the little brown cub smiled in an incomprehensible bliss, a roar was heard on the wind.


	4. Savior

Tomo, Kumi, and Mata all glanced upward nervously as the strange roar sounded. It seemed to come from very far away, but it was still unmistakably the powerful roar of an angry adult lion. For several moments the night was silent.

"Don't mind that," Tomo muttered hurriedly. "Whoever it is, he's nowhere nearby…He's not going to find us here."

Kumi and Mata didn't look so certain. "You sure?" Mata whimpered.

"Maybe it was one of the ghosts!" Kumi exclaimed. Her eyes were uncharacteristically wide. "What if they _are_ after us? What if they don't want us here in their tomb?"

"A myth!" Tomo hissed. "Sissies! There's no such thing as ghosts. We've been coming here for months and nothing's happened…"

Zira said nothing, tuning out the cubs' argument. Well enough that they get distracted. Somehow she knew, though she couldn't tell how, that the roar was no ghost. It was someone coming for her.

That very second her thoughts were confirmed. With another roar, this one extremely loud and close at hand, a blur of gold streaked across her vision. She felt the earth shake as some great creature landed before her, heard snarls and yelps of pain, then sensed something hovering above her that shouted "Grab on!"

Slightly dazed, Zira leapt blindly toward something gold, felt her claws sink into flesh, felt the muscles beneath her flinch but hold. She pulled herself upward until she was on the lion's back and grasped her paws around its neck.

She felt a lurch of movement beneath her and closed her eyes, tightening her grip. For several minutes she was aware of nothing but the rhythm of the animal's body beneath hers. The wind whistled in her ears, and something tickled her face. For what felt like hours, or maybe seconds, she flew, forgetting that she was holding onto an animal's neck for dear life, forgetting that four cubs were far behind her. There was no such thing as time. She felt nothing but the glorious sensation of running, running like the wind.

She wasn't sure when, but she felt her savior slow down and finally stop. Zira slid dizzily from the lion's back as reality caught up with her. She had almost been killed back there. By cubs her age! And Nyonda…Nyonda! He was stuck back there with those killers, most likely dead. Zira sobbed. Her best friend in the world, gone. She'd been ready to follow him, too. But here she was, perfectly alive…and without him. She cried and cried.

"Oh dammit, no, no, come on now. Don't cry, kid. Your friend's right here."

She glanced up through her tears, confused. And there was Nyonda, a lump of dark fur on the ground beside her. He was still bleeding a little, but his side rose and fell normally. He was breathing! With a squeal of relief she stumbled towards him and began to lick his wounds. At the touch of her pink tongue, his eyes fluttered open.

"Zira?" he moaned. "Wha…what happened?"

"You know, I'd really like to know what you two were doing out there to begin with," came the voice above them. Zira looked up and really saw their rescuer for the first time. He was tawny gold, and his late-adolescence mane was dark brown. He had chocolate colored eyes that glared sternly at the two cubs below him.

"Well…" Zira began uncertainly. "We were…I mean, it was my fault. Tomo challenged me earlier today. He told me to meet him in the Stoneyards. I-I was stupid. I shouldn't have gone. Nyonda was right, he tried to stop me. I should have listened…" She turned away and buried her face in Nyonda's fur.

"I see." The tall male looked away for a moment, seeing something that wasn't there, then turned back to Zira. "Well, you'd better not let me catch you associating with those three anymore. They're pests, each of them. Sure, they seem respected and skilled. Even my little brother looks up to them, and I wish…I wish more than anything that he wouldn't. You mustn't let them rule you. They're not kind beings."

Way to rub it in. Zira glared back up at him, feeling more guilty than she'd ever felt before. "I'm sorry!" she snapped. "Okay?! I'm _sorry_…"

The teenager looked taken aback. "Hey, whoa, don't get mad, I'm just saying…"

Uh-oh. Another temper flare. _Calm, Zira,_ she told herself. _Deep breaths._ After several moments she felt more in control and dared look back up at him. "No, no, it's okay. I didn't mean to snap at you. I guess…I really must say thank you. We'd have been dead if you hadn't shown up. How'd you find us, anyway?"

"I was just out walking," he stated, as if it were of no importance. "I find nighttime refreshing. I was skirting the waterhole when I thought I heard someone laughing. At first I thought I was imagining things, but I decided to see if I could find the source of the laughter since I had nothing better to do. Pretty soon I began to hear what seemed like snarls and hisses, signs of a battle. I picked up the pace. As soon as I saw the Stoneyards ahead of me, I knew I was dealing with _those_ three."

"So…you roared when you found out that Tomo, Kumi, and Mata were behind it? Wow, you must really hate those guys…"

"I roared?" The young lion looked confused. "Oh yeah, I guess I did. Just the thought of them…for all I knew, they could have been killing someone. I soon found out that they were. Come on, I couldn't just leave you two at their mercy, could I?"

"Well, no, you couldn't, I guess…" Zira stood up and walked up to him. "Thank you again for saving us. Um…do you wanna be friends, uh…"

"The name's Ni," he told her, understanding her hesitation. He held out his paw to hers. "And you are…"

"Zira." She took his paw, even though it was much bigger than hers.

"I'm honored to be your friend, Zira."

"No, _I'm_ honored to be_ yours_. I'm totally in your debt." Wasn't that what people always said in the old tales?

"Oh, please, don't say that…"

"I can never thank you enough for saving my life…er, our lives."

"Hey, no problem. The least I could do."

"Cool. See ya tomorrow."

"Good night, Zira." Ni stood up and began to turn away, but looked back at Zira as an afterthought. "Take care, kid." And with that the golden male disappeared into the night.

Zira smiled and turned back to Nyonda. He seemed to have slipped back into unconsciousness at some point in the conversation. She crouched down next to his sleeping form and whispered in his ear.

"And thank you too, Nyonda. Thanks…for everything."

She could have sworn the little black cub smiled in his sleep. She wiggled under him, stood up—he was heavy, but she could manage—and slowly carried him back to the grove.


	5. The Decision

Nobody knew who Nyonda's father was. Zira'd heard tell that he'd been found moments after birth, eyes tight shut, kneading his tiny paws in vain against his dead mother's belly. None of the lionesses in the hunting party that had discovered him had really wanted him, supposedly because of a natural aversion to his charcoal-colored fur. However grudgingly, though, they had decided to take turns nurturing the helpless newborn. His care often switched paws, so nobody had had the chance to become attached to him as a mother to a son. In fact, by mere coincidence (or perhaps something more) it was Zira's mother's turn to nurse him when the two cubs' eyes had opened, practically within minutes of each other. The two of them had been together ever since.

The good news—or bad news, depending on how you look at it—was that no one ever really noticed Nyonda's presence or absence, health or injuries. After depositing the unconscious cub next to a tree stump within crawling distance of the waterhole, Zira had raced back to her mother and oh-so-carefully curled up next to her. When sunrise came, no one was the wiser. She quickly rattled off to her waking mother that she was going to go play with Nyonda. The lioness, though slightly bewildered by her daughter's sense of urgency, didn't press the matter.

Zira bolted anxiously back to the waterhole. As she approached the stump she saw that Nyonda was still asleep. She sighed in relief and sat down next to him. His fur tickled her side as she settled down. He looked so peaceful sleeping there…Zira smiled and placed her head gently on the hollow of his neck. She was so lucky to have such an amazing friend: a friend so true he would sacrifice himself for her.

Nyonda gave a small moan under her. She sat up as his eyes twitched open. He yawned and stretched, blinking in the sunlight. Suddenly he noticed Zira beside him.

"Zira?" he moaned. "Is that you?"

She grinned at him. "Good morning, sleepyhead."

He looked around, squinting. "Where are we?"

"The waterhole, silly. See?"

"Oh." He looked confused. "I thought…"

"Thought what?"

He screwed up his face in concentration. "But it was…I remember it was dark. There were rocks, and…and pain…"

She licked the top of his head. "You followed me to the Stoneyards last night. I was being an idiot and following up on Tomo's challenge. He wanted to make me a member of his little gang but you wouldn't let them."

"Oh…oh, yes!" His face lit up in sudden recognition, but a moment later it drooped again. He sighed. "I must have been out of my mind. There was no way I could have beat them. I…Zira, I failed you."

For a moment she was still, but suddenly erupted into laughter. "Ha ha ha! Failed me?!" She gasped for breath, then collapsed into convulsive screeches of mirth. Nyonda looked at her uncomfortably. Luckily she soon regained her composure and turned towards him with a sweet, thankful smile. "I-I couldn't ask for anything more of you, Nyonda. You're the best friend I could ever hope to have. You cared about me, so you came after me, and you stood up for me against those creeps. You're a really brave guy, Nyonda."

He glanced up at her from beneath his long bangs, embarrassed by the praise. "Aw, come on, I can't possibly be _that_ awesome. Don't try to fool me, I know I lost that battle last night. Tell me what happened."

"Well, you sort of appeared out of nowhere…I almost jumped out of my fur when I saw you. You told Tomo and the girls to back off, and then all of a sudden they were on top of you. I admit I closed my eyes and covered myself with my arms; I'm such a coward. But when I looked up…" Suddenly she cut off. The horrible image had just reappeared in her mind, the gruesome picture of Nyonda, a mangled heap of fur and blood, and Zira not knowing whether he was dead or alive…

"Well?" he prompted her.

"I think either Mata or Kumi threw you against the rock wall. You weren't moving. I was scared to death."

"I guess that explains why I can't remember anything, then."

Zira couldn't help but give a small chuckle. "So they pinned me down and threatened to kill me if I didn't join them. Naturally I refused the offer…"

"You WHAT?!"

"I…I refused the offer."

"B-b-but they were gonna kill you!"

"Well, I sure as heck wasn't going to join their little gang, not after…well, you know. But as luck would have it, Ni heard the fight and came to our rescue."

"Who?"

"Ni. He's that big gold-and-brown guy. Older kid."

"Ah, yes. I think I've seen him around."

"So he was taking a walk at night and he heard the noise. He got us out of there nice and quick. We owe him our lives. Even if he went on and on later about how those other cubs are always up to no good and shouldn't be trusted and blah blah blah…"

"Then we give him the appreciation he deserves." Nyonda rose onto all fours. "If we owe him our lives, I really ought to thank him in person." He turned to leave, but after a few steps tripped on a rock and went sprawling.

Zira trotted over to him. "Oh, sure. You're perfectly ready to just get up and run around everywhere with a twisted wrist or heaven knows what. No. You're staying here until you're better. _All_ better." She put unneeded emphasis on the word "all" but he didn't push it. He just looked up at her looking playfully annoyed.

"Well, I can see I'm not going to be able to change your mind. Do with me as you will."

"That's my boy." She led him back to the stump by the water. He sat down obediently and looked up at her, as if awaiting orders. It was too much; they both cracked up.

Zira wasn't sure if she'd ever fully appreciated the time that the two of them had together. She hadn't realized how much her scruffy friend really meant to her until last night. She wasn't about to let him get into trouble now. But she couldn't hold back one last giggle as she stood up.

"Behave yourself, now," she joked. "I'll be back with food as soon as I can."

"Don't you go worrying your little head off, Zira. I won't do anything stupid."

She laughed a musical laugh and jogged off to find her mother.


	6. New Friends

For the next few days little Zira tagged along on every hunting trip she could. Her mother was pleased that her daughter was "growing up" and didn't object in the least to her attending more hunts than she could possibly need for food, thinking that the cub just wanted to get in lots of observation and practice. Zira was indeed watching and participating in more hunts than was necessary for her. Every time she saw the chance, though, she would carefully rip off a slab of meat from the kill and run down to the waterhole with it. Luckily Nyonda hadn't broken anything during the brawl, so after a few days of rest he was up and about again. His wounds were healing nicely, and nobody noticed the dark scabs that camouflaged with his blackish fur.

Nyonda had his mind made up that the first thing he would do when freed from Zira's quarantine was meet this Ni. Side by side the two cubs trotted through the grass, stopping to ask any other pride members they ran into if they'd seen the tawny-furred youth. Finally they got an answer from a young lioness: he'd last been seen sleeping by the river, near the rapids. The cubs thanked the older girl and headed off to the river.

They hadn't gone far when Nyonda noticed something out of the corner of his eye. He stopped walking, causing Zira to bump into him from behind, and turned his head towards whatever had caused the movement. At first he saw nothing, but after a few seconds he caught a glimpse of a flash of red several yards away.

Zira had noticed, and she knew immediately who the strangers were. Involuntarily she clawed the ground and crouched slightly. Her hackles pricked upward as a low growl began to sound in her throat.

"Zira…" Nyonda placed a steadying paw on her shoulder.

The girl blinked. Where had that come from? Was it one of her flares? She shook her head from side to side as the fur along her back flattened again and she relaxed her posture.

"It's nothing. I'm fine." She turned determinately away from where she'd seen the movement and walked on.

"Forgive and forget, they say," Nyonda muttered as they continued onward.

"They doesn't deserve to get away with it like this." Her eyes were narrowed. She was barely aware that she was hissing.

"Zira, please. Let it go. They'll forget about it eventually. If you make a fuss over it things will just get worse."

"But they hurt you…"

"I'm perfectly fine. I just got scratched up a lot, that's all. They aren't old enough to do mortal damage in fights."

"Yeah."

They were still a few minutes away from the rapids when they suddenly heard a girlish squeal and then laughter. The two cubs picked up the pace until they came around a boulder by the water's edge and saw Ni's golden form lying there in the sun. He wasn't alone, though; a slightly darker and more reddish ball of fur was in front of him. The little creature seemed to be on its back, apparently laughing its little head off.

"Hey, Ni!" Zira called as she stepped around the boulder and trotted towards him.

Ni looked up and his face brightened. "Zira! Nice to see you again." He noticed Nyonda peering nervously out from behind the boulder. "And your friend as well. Don't believe I caught your name, kid."

"Oh, it's Nyonda." He gathered his nerve and walked over to the older male. "Pleased to meet you, Ni."

"You too," Ni chuckled. He turned to the younger cub in front of him. "Come on, Malka, come say hi to Nyonda and Zira."

The little cub looked up at the older three. "Hi!" he said cheerily, rolling over onto his feet and standing up. "Ni's told me all about you!"

"Well, hi there!" Zira said to the cub, grinning. "Ni, is this your little brother?"

"Yeah, that's Malka. Hyper, friendly, always getting lost."

Malka glared at Ni. "Gee, thanks."

Zira laughed. "It's very nice to meet you, Malka. What sort of games do you like to play?" She couldn't help but talk to him with a cooing, motherly voice. He was so cute!

Malka grinned at her deviously. "Did you say…plaaaaaay?"

Nyonda chuckled as he watched Zira and Malka walk away down the river, chattering about how he liked to play and how un-playful Ni was and the things that Zira used to play when she was younger. What a nice little brother. Sometimes he wished he had a brother. But he had Zira, and that was good enough for him.

"So, uh…" he started, unsure of what to say to Ni.

"You've got a cool friend there," Ni put in before Nyonda could think of anything to say. "You're quite the valiant one to go after her the other night."

"You think so?"

"I know so."

"Wow, thank you. I just thought I was being reckless by trying to stand up to them."

"Well, you may have been outnumbered, but you stood up for your friend. That takes courage, and that's what counts."

"Yeah. Well, maybe I _was_ being noble. But I really must thank you for showing up when you did. You saved our lives. How can we ever repay you?"

Ni blushed. "You're making me sound like a hero."

"Well, you are! I mean, if Zira and I see you as our hero, then you're a hero no matter what. You should be happy."

"If you say so, kid." Ni chuckled.

"So, what's it like having a brother?"

Ni looked at him. "That's like asking what it's like to have a nose."

"Oh…"

"Might as well take a stab at explaining, though. It's hard to describe. Ever since Malka was born I've…well, he's another presence in my life. Sometimes he feels like a bit of a responsibility, like when I get worried about him and want to protect him. But he's really fun to have around, even if he's a bit annoying, and I'd do anything for him."

"Kind of like how I'd do anything for Zira?" he blurted without thinking.

Ni smiled. "Sure. There's only one small difference: Malka and I have a blood connection, while you and Zira aren't related. Not that that's important, of course. Whether people are related or not doesn't necessarily have anything to do with friendship. It just happens between people, and it's great either way. Now, see, since Malka and I _are_ brothers, we end up spending quite a bit of time together. You and Zira, I assume, have also spent lots of time together for some other reason. In the end, both result in true friendship. You kind of learn to love the person you're with the most, you know?"

"I guess." Nyonda cringed a little bit inside, though, at Ni's use of the word _love_. He'd always thought of love as something…girly, something gushy and romantic. Ew. But the way Ni talked about love for his little brother was interesting. Maybe love was just caring about someone a lot, doing anything in your power to help a certain person, wanting to be around that person; in other words, the strongest kind of friendship. Nyonda sighed in relief. No fears about gushy-loving Zira, then. They were the utmost best of friends. There was nothing wrong with that. If she were ever in trouble again, he'd do anything to get her out, even if he had to endure the pain from the other night a hundred times over…

All of a sudden a shrill scream sounded. Ni and Nyonda tensed, eyes wide. Now that they were focused, they could make out a faint cry from far away: somebody was shouting for help.

"Malka!"

"Zira!"


	7. Intruders!

Like lightning the two youths raced downriver, towards the source of the cry. Ni glanced to his left at Nyonda, who was surprisingly keeping up with the older lion seemingly effortlessly. Ni was impressed by the cub's speed. They might need that.

The shouting was getting steadily louder. They could now distinctly make out Malka's high voice, crying for help. They sped up anxiously. Soon they were about to crest a small hill.

Ni, being taller, saw that the opposite side of the hill was dangerously steep before Nyonda did. He skidded to a stop and stepped on Nyonda's tail to keep the cub from flying over the edge. The two lions surveyed the situation before them at the foot of the hill, eyes wide. This was bad.

"Zi-" Nyonda started to shout, but Ni pulled the younger male to him and clamped his mouth shut.

"Shush!" he hissed. "Have you got a death wish?" He turned away from Nyonda thoughtfully, then looked back at him. "I think I've got an idea."

* * *

**_A few minutes earlier..._ **

"You gotta be kidding me," said Malka, staring at Zira. "You make star patterns too?"

"Of course I make star patterns," Zira replied with a smile. They were walking slowly along the riverbank. It was very peaceful, and she rather liked the experience of making small talk with somebody younger than her. "I think it's really fun to look at the night sky and imagine what could be there. Don't you think so?"

"It is fun," Malka muttered. "I just didn't know people besides me liked it. When I can't get to sleep at night I stay up and look at the stars. It feels good."

They slid carefully down a steep slope and continued walking. "Alone? You poor thing. It's so much more fun when you can bounce ideas off of someone else."

"Really?" The younger cub looked up at Zira. "Well, I guess Ni could do it with me, but he's so boring sometimes…"

"Shh." Zira suddenly thrust a paw in front of Malka to stop him walking. He looked up at the older girl questioningly. She stood tall but tense, eyes narrowed in concentration. Her ears were pricked and her nostrils were flared slightly. What was she doing? Malka was too scared by her sudden change in mood to ask her what was going on. He looked around him nervously, sinking into a fearful half-crouch. That was when he saw and heard a patch of tall grass rustle.

In a flash Zira whipped around, landing on all fours in front of Malka, sheltering him from whatever was lurking there in the grass. "Who are you and what do you want?" she blurted, trying to hide the fear in her voice.

"Well, lookee here," a rough voice said. "Lil' brave ones. Fellas, come look at this!"

A strange creature rose from the grass in front of them and began to walk casually towards the two lion cubs. It was black and spotted with patches of gold. It wasn't all that big, but it looked huge to Malka. He shrank down in fear behind Zira.

Suddenly he saw something out of the corner of his eye. He whipped around. There was another one! And another! And there, and there! There had to be at least a dozen of the scary animals surrounding them.

"Ziraaa…" he whined, pressing against her leg urgently.

One of the creatures was speaking. "Blimey," it muttered. "Pups! We never get close to the pups when they're alone like this."

"A treat, ain't it," said the first one. He looked Zira in the eyes and sighed. "You lions. Always getting the best of the meat…"

"What are you doing here?" Zira asked him, sounding braver than she felt.

The wild dog grinned, showing rows of sharp teeth. "Oh, just slinkin' around. Hoping something edible'd magically appear, maybe. But we've _never_ gotten this close to unsupervised lion pups. No, this is quite a treat for us."

"Dibs on the haunches!" one of the other dogs chirruped from behind Malka. His eyes widened in panic. Suddenly realizing what the pack intended, he sat up and began to wail with all his might.

"Heeeeeelp! Somebody! Someone help us!"

The dogs acted as if they hadn't heard, and Zira did nothing to try to calm Malka down. She was focused on the pack leader.

"Sweet revenge," the dog was muttering, half to himself. "Best served cold, they say, but I daresay warm flesh tastes all the better…"

"You wouldn't dare," came a hissing, venomous voice from between Zira's lips. Her fur bristled along her back and she dug at the ground with her claws. Her lips were pulled back their farthest, exposing her pointy white teeth. "Come no closer, if you value your life."

"What kind of flaky idiot are you to think you can beat us? You're so outnumbered, you couldn't get two feet before one of us would slice your head off."

"You underestimate me," Zira growled. "I may be young, but I'm made of 100 percent pure lion muscle, and lion muscle doesn't know age."

"Yeah!" came a sudden jeering voice from far off to Zira's left. "Lions pwn your doggy tushies!"

Every single pack member looked towards the sound. Zira jerked her head up too. She knew that voice, even if it was uncharacteristically high…

"Who said that?" the pack leader snarled.

The voice didn't heed the question. "Sunsets are red, noontimes are blue, rocks don't have brains, and neither do you!" it sang.

"It's another pup!" shouted one of the dogs, rising on its hind legs to see farther through the grass. "There he is, hiding behind that rock!"

"Get him!" the leader barked fiercely before turning to the two dogs on his immediate left. "You two stay here and guard the others," he told them quietly, and a second later he bounded away. The rest of the pack bolted after their leader towards the source of the mysterious voice.

"We'll teach _him_ to insult us like that!" one of the dogs growled as it disappeared into the grass. In a few seconds Zira and Malka stood alone, except for the two wild dogs that circled them menacingly.

"That little friend of yours is sure in for it," one of them grumbled, addressing Zira. "Kitisho doesn't take kindly to people making fun of him."

Zira said nothing. Malka had finally stopped screeching. For a minute or two the two dogs circled the two lion cubs. Ni and Nyonda were far behind them, so she wasn't expecting help. She'd been a fool to wander off like this. Malka was in danger, all because of her negligence.

The dog who hadn't spoken suddenly sat down and slouched over. "Man, why did we have to be the ones to stay here all bored-like? I wanna chase something so bad."

Malka heard a branch snap behind him. He flinched, but when he saw Ni several feet away he suddenly smiled hugely. Ni was holding a paw to his mouth, as if saying "Quiet." Malka nodded and nudged Zira, pointing to Ni as she turned around. Zira held back a sigh of relief.

"Oh, quit your whining, Sheba. When the others get back, we'll get first pick of the meat."

Sheba suddenly sat up. "Hey, what if we just killed them now? Do we really need the others to help us? They're only a couple of pups."

"Idiot! And face Kitisho's wrath? You know how he gets when he's deprived the privilege of making a kill…Ow!"

The two dogs fell forward and hit the ground with a thump. Ni had hit them squarely in the back, pinning them to the ground with his paws. He leaned his head forward between theirs.

"Make no sound," he whispered in their ears, extending his claws to tickle their necks. "You are in lion territory. We don't want to see your kind on our land anymore. Never come back to our side of the river, if you know what's good for you. Now go."

He let the dogs out from under him. Without a word they stood up and dashed away, splashing unceremoniously through the river and soon vanishing into the distance.

"Thanks, Ni!" Malka piped up. "I knew you'd come!"

"I guess that's two I owe you," Zira chuckled. "Look at me. I just cannot stop getting in trouble, now can I?"

"When I see my kind in trouble, I step in. And since you two are important to me, there's no need to repay me at all." He winked.

Suddenly Zira remembered what had distracted the rest of the pack. She remembered how well she knew the voice that had created the needed diversion. She looked Ni straight in the eyes.

"Ni," she asked sternly, "where's Nyonda?"


	8. Ni's Plan

Nyonda zigzagged crazily through the grass, reciting Ni's directions to him all the way. Left, right, right again, left…He dodged bushes and rocks like mad. All the while the angry pack snarled and stumbled along behind him, cursing the troublesome cub under their breath. He had to draw them far away from where Zira and Malka were. He mustn't get too far ahead of them. They had to keep him in sight, had to keep thinking that they could catch up to him if they tried hard enough…

His paw hit a rock and he went sprawling in the grass. In the few seconds that it took to stand up again the dogs were almost on top of him. He leapt away in the nick of time and kept running. His forelegs stung where they'd scraped the ground, but he couldn't stop now, not when his friends were depending on him.

Suddenly his eyes lit up. There it was! There was a log lying across the top of a slight swell in the earth, still several yards ahead. Bushes and rocks on either end completely obscured whatever was on the other side. He thought of Ni's instructions. _With a running start, jump onto it, not over it. Then leap as far as you can, and you'll reach the other side._

The other side of what? Nyonda hadn't thought to ask earlier. But the log was coming up fast, and there was no more time to think. He touched the top of it with his front paws, brought his hind legs forward, and pushed off as hard as he could.

It wasn't until the moment his paws left the ground when he realized that the river was far below him. Here it was narrow but quick, carving the beginnings of a canyon into the earth. The turbulent surface of the water was several feet below the log. Not near big enough to be a canyon or gorge, but it was enough to give someone several bruises.

Nyonda took all this in very quickly. In a split second he landed on the other side. He turned around. The wild dogs, caught unawares, had leapt over the log and were now falling straight into the river, tripping over each other and banging their limbs on the rocks. Squeals of alarm and splashes filled the air. Nyonda couldn't help but snicker. He soon remembered his instructions, though, and shot off along the other side of the river before the dogs could register their surroundings.

In a minute or two he saw Ni's telltale gold hide gleaming in the sun on the other side of the river. The river was wide but very shallow here, and he waded back across without a problem.

Zira seemed to be yelling at Ni as he approached. "So you told him to go run off and get chopped up by a pack of rabid dogs?! What's the matter with you? They're probably ripping him to shreds right now!"

"We had to distract them somehow, and I guessed that the dogs wouldn't be stupid enough to leave their prey unattended when they were. I knew Nyonda wouldn't have been strong enough to get past the few they left behind to guard you. I'm confident he's safe. Have you ever seen him sprint? That little speedo could give a cheetah a run for its money."

Nyonda blushed at the praise. He trotted up to the others smiling. "I'm back, and I'm fine. Clever idea, Ni. It worked perfectly."

Zira sighed heavily in relief, but the calm didn't last long. "What did you think you were doing? You could have killed yourself!"

"I trust Ni. And somebody's got to keep you out of harm's way, right?"

"Yeah, ha, ha, everybody go make fun of Zira the Dimwit now. I see how it is."

"Oh, come on, Zira, it wasn't your fault at all. You were just walking and talking with Malka. Nothing like the other night. You were just minding your own business this time, and there's nothing wrong with that at all, so don't go beating yourself up again. You've been through enough these past few days."

"I guess you're right. I promise I'll try my best not to do anything stupid in the future, though."

"That's nice," Ni muttered, somewhat sarcastically.

Zira glared at him. "Are you implying something?"

"What?" he asked innocently.

This made everyone laugh. Malka fell to the ground and started pounding the ground with his paw. Ni picked Malka up in playful retaliation and gave him a noogie, making Zira and Nyonda chortle and shriek all the more loudly. The dogs' ambush and its seriousness faded from everyone's mind as the sound of young lions' laughter rang over the water.

* * *

Their mood still lingered as Zira and Nyonda skipped home together. They'd had enough adventures for one week and were keen to get a good rest, or at least play somewhere safe. The ideal place for that, according to Zira, was wherever her mother, Penda, happened to be.

Zira'd never known her father. Penda never mentioned him. If it weren't for all the other cubs in the pride that she often saw hanging around with their fathers, Zira wouldn't have cared. She had a caring mother that she loved, and she had a best friend that she loved. She'd just recently made two more friends. What more did she need? She felt no feeling of longing for her missing father; she just couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to have one.

"We're back, Mother!" Zira called as she and Nyonda approached the solitary acacia under which Penda could usually be found resting. They could make out the dark shape of a lioness with her back to them, lying still in the shadow of the tree. Nyonda stopped.

"Looks like she's napping," he observed. "We should be quiet."

"Eh, I wouldn't be so sure. Lots of times she'll just lie down and zone out."

"I see."

The cubs tiptoed cautiously toward the lioness. Though the dry grass rustled beneath their paws, she didn't stir. Now quite close to her, they crept around her still form towards her hidden face.

Penda's fur was a dark tan color, a shade darker than Zira's own. Her nose was pink instead of black, but still prominent and angular. Like her daughter, her eyes were deeply set in her skull. Her ruby red eyes stared obliviously out into the savannah, focused on something that wasn't there. A moment later, though, she suddenly blinked several times and hurriedly sat up straight. She looked a little dizzy and confused at first, but in a second or two she'd grasped her surroundings and was looking at her daughter.

"Why, Zira! You're back! Oh, hello, Nyonda. Pardon me…I must have dozed off. Boy, what a lovely day. So what have you two been up to?"

"Oh, just goofin' around," Zira said lightly. "We were hanging out with Ni and Malka over by the river, actually. Had a nice little…um, adventure…"

Nyonda made an odd coughing noise, as if trying to hide a humorless laugh. Penda glanced at him questioningly, but soon turned back to her daughter.

"Ni and Malka? Are they some more friends of yours?"

"Mm-hmm. They're both really friendly and fun to hang around with."

"That's really nice to hear, darling. I was starting to worry if you'd ever make another friend." A hint of a smile danced briefly across her face as her eyes flashed in Nyonda's direction. Nyonda blushed. Zira snickered.

"It is nice to have a couple more people to hang around with, I guess," she confessed. "Malka is so adorable! He's just the sweetest little thing…"

"Well, don't let me stop you from having some more fun. You two can't possibly want to hang around with a lazy ol' girl like me."

"Actually, Ms. Penda," Nyonda began, trying to hold back a yawn but failing, "we were kind of wanting a nap ourselves." He glanced over at Zira, who was already settling down at her mother's side. "Er…is it okay if I…"

"Of course you can stay, Nyonda. Why would I shun my only daughter's best friend?"

Nyonda smiled in gratitude and curled up next to Zira.


	9. Penda

Penda looked on as the little black cub snuggled up at Zira's side. Nyonda's blue eyes, or at least the one not covered by his bangs, eased closed as he settled down. He looked so peaceful and happy just to be there with his friend. Zira shifted a little bit next to him, seemingly unconsciously, to fit her body more closely to Nyonda's side. Her eyelids squeezed tighter shut for a moment when his bangs tickled her face. She smiled in her sleep and gave a small moan of contentment.

The lioness' lips twitched into a smile as she watched the cubs. It was clear that they loved each other as dearly as brother and sister, perhaps more. Just seeing the two cubs cuddling together so sweetly filled Penda with longing. It reminded her of a vibrant past that had ended too soon and too long ago…

* * *

She'd grown up in a fairly small pride. Her parents hadn't seemed all that interested in her, though she'd never known why. She had no fond memories of the other cubs at all. Her upbringing became manifested in her personality: she became stubborn and unpredictable. Arguments broke out frequently. Finally, when she was an adolescent, she decided that she'd had enough and ran away. 

Living on her own, she just managed to survive by hunting small critters such as mice. After just a week of this harsh life her ribs were beginning to show. She stubbornly forced herself to get used to it, though. She had to be tough. For several weeks this went on, and all the while she refused to acknowledge that she was steadily becoming weaker and weaker. She ventured into completely unknown territory, though she was far too tired to notice the scenery. She stopped hunting and soon became ill. One day in the searing heat of noon, while she was barely able to walk to search for water, her body gave up and collapsed in the dust. Her mind shut down. And the next thing she knew, she was drinking from a clear stream.

Her rescuer was named Ninaku. He was a young adult from the Wildfire Pride. According to him, he'd been patrolling the border when he'd seen Penda out in the desert and carried her to the stream. After brief introductions, he helped her settle down in a sheltered spot by the bank, promising that he would return.

Penda stayed by the stream for almost two weeks while she regained her strength. Every day Ninaku returned with food for her, and every night he returned again to check up on her if she was asleep or talk with her for a while if she couldn't sleep. At first he sternly prohibited her from leaving her resting place for anything, but after the first week he reluctantly agreed that she was strong enough to take short walks along the creek. Once she asked him why he was helping her so much. At first he said it was his duty, but after being pestered again and again for a better answer he confessed that he couldn't bear to see a lion that he knew die.

She soon began to look forward to his visits. She'd never had a friend before, and she craved more time to talk with him. Over time they told each other everything about their lives. Ninaku's mane had just recently become full; any day now the pride would kick him out. He didn't seem to mind, though. In fact, he sounded almost excited to journey to new places without his relatives breathing down his neck.

"And what's more," he said, fixing his emerald-green eyes on hers, "you can come along with me, if you want."

"Are you serious?" she asked, completely surprised. "I'm not going to be quarantined here anymore?"

"Unless you want to," he replied. "But I would advise against that, because I wouldn't be able to stay with you."

Something twitched in Penda's belly. Had he really just said that? Why did she feel so happy all of a sudden? A few moments later she realized that she'd been staring silently into his eyes. She blinked and tried to talk again.

"Of course I'm coming with you! There's no way I'd stay here all by myself. You're my best friend, so I'm sticking with you."

Oddly enough, the verdict came the very next day. When Ninaku came to the creek that morning, much earlier than usual, he was practically skipping with joy. After informing Penda of the news with an ecstatic cry of "WE'RE FREE!" and assuring her that he considered her travel-ready, they were off.

They spent every minute of their adventures together. Penda quickly learned how to hunt larger prey with Ninaku's help. They journeyed through treeless plains, flourishing riverbeds, cathedral-like acacia groves, and even once a small jungle. Gradually, though, the scenery began to slur together in their minds. All they saw was each other.

Penda had never been happier in her entire life. The embarrassed looks became subtle nudges as they walked. Then came the nighttime licks, then the nuzzlings, then the embraces…

And then there was the fire.

* * *

When she wasn't hunting with the rest of the pride or talking to her daughter, Penda would lie down and stare out into the savannah. Every leafy tree reminded her of his sparkling emerald eyes. She would imagine that he stood there before her, looking down at her with that smile that she knew so well. She would reach out to him with her paws, hoping in vain that he might actually be there, but every time she was disappointed. 

If it weren't for her treasured Zira, Penda would have left the Valley Pride long ago. She simply wasn't comfortable being around so many people. She wanted so badly to return to the wilderness to seek Ninaku out. But her same love for him also kept her here with Zira. Ninaku wouldn't possibly have wanted his only child abandoned for his own sake. He was much too loving for that, and so was Penda.

Zira grew too quickly, or so it seemed to Penda. Her best buddy from cubhood, Nyonda, grew right along with her. With Ni and Malka added to the picture, Zira now had more friends than her mother had ever had. Penda wasn't really sure if she was happy for her daughter or jealous. More likely happy.

Penda realized that she'd grown to love Nyonda. His shy but playful personality strikingly resembled Ninaku's. Penda could tell that the little coal-colored cub cared enormously for Zira, just like Penda's mate had cared for her. With luck, they might even become more than friends later. She couldn't think of a better possible future mate for her daughter than that sweet little black-furred cub with the long bangs.

If only Ninaku could watch his daughter grow up too!


	10. A Few Months Later

"Uh-oh," Zira muttered, turning to Malka. "Did you hear that?"

"I sure did," Malka whispered back. "There's something behind us. But come on. How bad can it be?"

"GRAAAAAH!"

Something dark and hairy suddenly jumped out at Malka from behind a bush. He yelped in fright and ran away, the creature close behind him. It was very muddy and had leaves and twigs matted in its fur, completely obscuring its face except for the open, sharp-toothed, slobbery mouth. In a few seconds it stepped on Malka's tail. The brown cub was terrified as the monster hovered over him. Hot smelly breath billowed over him. The creature slowly raised its grimy paw…and pushed the mass of fur and leaves up and away from its face, exposing two twinkling blue eyes.

Malka suddenly began to laugh. "Nyonda! I knew it was you the whole time!"

"Oh you did, did you?" The older male closed his mouth and wiped the drool off with the back of his paw.

Zira trotted up from behind, chuckling in her low voice. "I must admit, that was pretty fun to watch. You should have seen your face, Malka! You looked like you'd seen a ghost!"

Malka glared at her, though he couldn't hide his smile. "You were in on the whole thing, weren't you?" Zira responded with a mischievous, toothy grin.

The little clump of black fur that once adorned Malka's forehead had now grown into a considerably large tuft. He was quite proud if it; it was a comforting assurance that he was growing older and more respectable every day. Someday he'd have a mane to call his very own, but that day never seemed to come soon enough.

Nyonda, of course, was much closer to Malka's goal than Malka himself. Over the past few months the fur along the back of his neck had begun to grow longer and longer, as well as becoming a shade darker than the rest of his already-dark fur. His bangs were so long now that he could push them to the left side of his nose and have them stay there without falling back in his face. This gave him a perpetual one-eyed look, but Zira, Malka, and Ni had gotten used to it quickly. His voice seemed to be getting deeper, too…and oddly enough, so was Zira's, but not nearly as much. Her voice was a smooth alto now. Nyonda showed every sign of becoming a strong, deep bass, but right now his voice was still cracking every other sentence.

"Come on, Nyonda, we haven't got all day," Malka whined.

"Just…one…minute…" Nyonda answered. He was sitting up balanced on his hind legs, attempting to pick the leaves and twigs out of his hair.

"Maybe getting it wet will help," Zira thought aloud. "Why don't you let that go for now? We can go down to the river. You need to wash the mud out anyway."

Nyonda gave a final grunt of frustration and dropped back onto all fours. "Okay, okay. I'm coming."

The three trekked through the grass towards the river. It wasn't a long walk, and in a few minutes Nyonda was crouching on the bank, trying to get his hair wet but not lose his balance.

"Oh, here, let me," Zira huffed after watching Nyonda struggle for a few minutes. He seemed to be trying to use a paw to comb through his bangs while they were in the water, but he couldn't lean down far enough to reach the current. Zira waded into the river—luckily it wasn't very deep—and walked around Nyonda until she was facing him. "Malka, do you think you could hold his butt down?" she called to the younger cub. The latter snickered a bit but obliged, walking up behind Nyonda and half-climbing on him to keep him from falling into the water. "Nyonda, you can put your paw back now." Nyonda consented and pulled his paw back, feeling Malka's extra weight on his back and knowing that his friends wouldn't let him slip and fall.

_That's more like it, _Zira thought as she guided Nyonda's head down to the water and began to run her claws through his bangs. It was amazing how much immersion in water helped. The twigs and leaves came free quickly. The knots took more work. A cloud of dirt particles filled the water around Zira as she fidgeted with Nyonda's unruly mane. Carefully she combed through his black locks. When she felt a snarl beneath her paws, she meticulously separated the strands, trying her hardest not to hurt him. Despite her best efforts, every once in a while Nyonda gave a pained-sounding grunt. Each time this happened she flinched and relaxed her paws, mouthing a silent "Sorry."

Once she hit a tangle so big that her temper finally snapped. She wanted to scream in frustration and just yank out this horrible, untamable fur! But somehow she forced herself not to. Her best friend was attached to that fur. She clenched her teeth, wishing with all her might that she wouldn't give in to the sudden temper flare. All that came out of her mouth was a tense groan. She made herself handle the rest of the knots as slowly and gently as she could, and slowly her frustration eased away.

Finally Nyonda's bangs were clean and snarl-free. For good measure she cupped water in her paw and ran her claws through the black scruff on his neck as well. Since the fur there was much shorter it only took a few seconds. Eventually she told Nyonda to sit up. He obediently scooted backwards on the bank as Malka let him go. Zira climbed back up on land and shook herself.

"That took longer than I expected," she muttered, "but I think it was worth it. Look how nice your mane is now!"

Nyonda fingered his dripping bangs. "It's all stringy."

"That's because it's wet, Smart One."

Nyonda shook his head from side to side to get rid of the excess water. He gave the wet hair a surly look and sighed. "Oh well. When it's dry it'll look a lot nicer."

"I'll comb it if you want," Zira offered.

He gave her a questioning glare. "I'm perfectly capable of combing my own fur, Zira."

"Well, _sorry,_ I was just offering…"

"Oh, no no no, it's okay! You can comb it if you want, I didn't mean…"

"No…_I'm _sorry. I-I shouldn't have snapped. It was a dumb suggestion."

"It wasn't a dumb suggestion at all, you were just trying to be helpful."

"Hey, guys! Look at this!"

Nyonda and Zira looked up. Malka had spoken, they were sure. They did a double take. He was out in the middle of the river!

They blinked. The grinning cub couldn't be standing on water. He was afloat on something; they couldn't tell if it was a tortoise shell or part of a tree. But however he was staying up, he was whizzing along with the current frightfully fast.

"Whoo-hoo! This is so awesome!" he shrieked. He was going so fast that his ears and head tuft flapped in the wind.

Zira and Nyonda took off down the river, eyes wide in fear for their friend. It seemed like the faster they ran, the faster he moved away from them. It wasn't helping that Malka was trying to go even faster by swishing one of his paws through the water. They shouted his name several times, though each time their voices sounded more and more strained.

The bank was uneven and scattered with the occasional rock. Because his legs were longer, Nyonda kept getting ahead of Zira, but she refused to let herself drop behind, churning her legs all the faster. She'd just put on a burst of speed when her forepaw slipped into a rut in the ground. As her momentum pushed the rest of her body forward, her paw stuck. Her wrist twisted in the mud. With a squeal of surprise and pain she fell to the ground.

"Oh, crud," she muttered under her breath. They couldn't stop now! They had to catch up to Malka! But as she tried to stand a searing pain shot through her arm. Her mouth opened in a silent scream. Her eyes burned. She eased herself back down to the ground and gingerly tried to lift her paw. She gasped as it cleared the ground. Just the slightest touch made her wrist feel like it was on fire. She couldn't even set it down. Tears trickled down her cheeks. Oh, great. Now she was crying.

"Zira!" Nyonda skidded to a sudden stop above her. "Zira, are you okay?"

Just when she thought things couldn't get worse. Here she was, playing the weakling again. How come she was always the damsel in distress?

"I'm fine!" she spat. Her hysteria-edged voice didn't sound at all like she wanted it to sound right now. "I just…" She sniffled. "I just tripped, that's all…" Why the heck was she acting like a sad, sorry crybaby?

"Don't be ridiculous, you're anything except fine. Here, lemme look." He leaned in.

Zira pulled her paw away. "Don't touch it."

"I won't touch it. I just want to look."

Obediently Zira extended her arm. She flinched. Sheesh, it even hurt to _move_. "There's no point. I can't do anything. And now we've lost Malka." She scowled. "You should have kept going. I was slowing you down anyway."

"You were hurt! I couldn't keep going if you were hurt!" He looked down at her with such a torn expression that she felt tears coming again. He'd had to choose between his two best friends. Yet the fact that he'd chosen _her_…

Nyonda pulled his gaze away from Zira's and looked worriedly downriver. Of course, Malka was nowhere to be seen. "Let's just pray he finds his way home."


	11. Malka's Grand Adventure

_This must be what it feels like to fly!_

That was Malka's only thought as he whizzed along with the current. He glided over the rapids effortlessly. The tortoise shell that he was riding on was quite large, or so it seemed to a cub like him, and it kept him afloat in even the most turbulent water. The wind in his face was sharp and invigorating. If only Zira and Nyonda and Ni could feel what he felt now!

He looked over his shoulder, expecting to see them, but they weren't there. His smile faded. He hadn't realized how far he'd gone. The river was wide here. He suddenly realized that this was where the dogs had cornered them months ago. Zira had been so brave, Nyonda so daring, Ni so clever! He loved them all. They'd been there when he needed them.

Well, he needed them now! The river seemed to be picking up speed again. It was pushing him away from them, farther and farther from home every second. He could do nothing but sit there on the shell as it bore him further and further through the valley. He was too terrified to jump into the water. It was probably freezing.

He looked ahead, down the river. What was that sound? He thought he heard something, though he couldn't tell what it was. He listened closely. It hissed. It was something like rain, he supposed. But it rumbled, too, like thunder. Whatever the noise was, it was getting steadily louder and louder. He suddenly realized that the horizon seemed to be coming closer, faster every second. The water was turning to white ribbons, seeming to fall away…

Realization hit Malka like a blow in the face.

"No!" he screamed. "No, no, no! Help!"

His cries were lost in the crashing of the water as he plummeted over the falls.

He fell for what felt like hours, water falling along with him on all sides. There was a strange white haze below him, like a cloud. It grew bigger and bigger as he fell, until he passed into it, and still he fell…

The water collided with his body like a wall of icy rock. He was pushed under the surface by an enormous force that left every muscle stinging with pain. Malka paddled instinctively; he'd never swum before. He had to get to the surface. But he was relentlessly pushed under again before he'd had a chance to reach the air. His lungs were on fire. He tried again to swim away from the pounding of the waterfall. He broke the surface with a gasp. For the briefest moment he felt water sprinkling his head, and before he had any idea what was happening the cascade struck him again like the trampling of a thousand elephants…

He felt a flash of pain in his head…

The numbing battering of the water…

And then he knew no more.

* * *

"Ni!"

One of the young adult lions looked up. His brown mane had just recently made it all the way around his face, enough to be officially called a "mane" by the older lions of the pride. When he saw Nyonda approaching with Zira on his back, Ni jumped up from the group and ran over to the two younger lions, eyes wide in fear.

"Zira!" he exclaimed as he slid to a stop in front of them. "Zira! What happened?"

"I just tripped," Zira grumbled.

Nyonda looked up at Ni. "What she means to say is her paw slipped in a pothole while she was running and she twisted her wrist really badly. She won't let me look at it, so I don't know exactly how it's hurt. I'm worried it might even be broken."

"Oh, no," Ni muttered, then looked over his shoulder. "Tipu? Do you mind if we bring you a patient?"

"Uh…okay," came a female's voice from the group of young adults.

"Great. Here, come on," he told Nyonda, ushering him toward the group. "Tipu might know something."

Nyonda felt a little embarrassed walking in on Ni's friends. There were two lions and two lionesses in the circle, not including Ni. They were all adult-sized. But Zira was in trouble, and he had to do something to help that.

One of the lionesses, the pale gray one, shifted her front paws to clear a place on the ground in front of her. "Put her here," she told Nyonda. The younger lion nodded and kneeled in front of her, letting Zira slide off his back. The lioness gently helped Zira down. The pale brown cub gave a small yelp when her sore paw touched the ground, but she clenched her teeth in determination and settled down before the lioness without another sound.

Nyonda sat down behind Zira as the lioness began to examine her swollen wrist. It was clear that Tipu had much experience with dealing with injuries: she inspected Zira gently and used both paws when moving her arm to keep the injured paw aligned with the arm. He could sense the other lions peering over him curiously to see what Tipu was doing. He began to fidget anxiously. He felt Ni place a paw on his back. Nyonda looked up at him. Ni gave him a reassuring smile. Nyonda tried to smile back, though he suspected it came across as more of a grimace.

"Tipu is Ponya's only child," Ni whispered to Nyonda. When the only reply was a blank look, Ni continued. "Ponya is the leader of the lionesses. Her mother, her mother's mother, and all their mothers were queens of this pride. They were also skilled healers, passing knowledge down from mother to daughter for generations. Luckily Tipu isn't self-centered enough to refuse to chill out with us commoners."

"Ya know, Ni, I can hear every word you're saying," Tipu said suddenly. Ni shut his mouth quickly, looking embarrassed. The other three lions were looking in awe at Tipu. Nyonda realized that they all respected her. He heard Tipu start to speak again and turned back around to face her.

"…Obviously quite swollen," she was saying, "but I'm pretty sure it's not a fracture. My best advice is rest. No running around with your buddies. Keep it elevated. If the healing process goes well, you'll be able to walk in two or three days, if you're not afraid to limp."

Nyonda sighed in relief. It wasn't broken. Zira wouldn't have to worry about "not running around with buddies," either. He wasn't afraid to be sedentary for a few days. "Thank you very much, milady," Nyonda said to the lioness.

Tipu growled. "Don't call me that."

"Oh, uh, sorry…Tipu…"

She chuckled. "No prob. That's what I'm here for."

* * *

The first thing he was aware of was a dull ache all through his body. A light breeze drifted over him, but it made him freezing cold. He didn't want to move. He wanted to go back to sleep. But he was hungry. Suspecting that sleep wasn't going to happen anytime soon, he opened his eyes and tried to sit up.

He was on the bank of the river. Now that he knew where he was, he realized that his tail was in the water. There was a log next to him. This territory, though, was completely unfamiliar. The flat land went on and on for miles, dotted with the occasional tree. There were no mountains around.

He tried to remember what had happened. His memory was foggy from being asleep for so long. How long had he been asleep? A day? Two days? All he could remember was the sound of rushing water, and the sensation of being crushed…

Of course! The waterfall! How could he forget? He looked at the log and put two and two together. He must have lost consciousness after going over the falls. The log had kept him afloat, and he'd drifted a long way down the river. It was the only way to explain why he was so wet and had no idea where he was.

There was a rustle in the grass to his right. Malka jumped in fear. He was far from home aand now something was going to get him! He was never going to see his friends again!

To his surprise, a cheetah's head emerged from the grass. The tall, lithe cat walked towards Malka curiously. The cheetah must have noticed that the cub was quivering, either in cold or in fear. He spoke. "What's wrong, kid?"

"I…I think I've lost my pride. Do you know how to get back?"

The cheetah looked baffled. "Lost? Can't you see Pride Rock from here? See, there." The cheetah turned his head. Malka followed his gaze. Sure enough, there was something there on the horizon. "Pretty easy to spot, if you ask me. But anyway…" The cheetah looked quizzically at Malka one last time before turning away and stalking off through the grass, muttering something about "weirdos" and "blind lions."

Malka looked again to the horizon. Pride Rock, eh? Well, maybe it wasn't _his_ pride's rock, but it was something to head for. He stood up and began to journey across the plain.


	12. Coming of Age

Ni was pacing. Back and forth he walked, between the two trees where his mother and Zira's mother lay. Zira and Nyonda were sitting next to Penda, feeling guilty. Penda was starting to worry that he would wear a path in the grass with all this pacing.

"When I get my paws on that little twerp," Ni growled, "I swear, I'll…I'll…"

"Squash him to a pulp?" Zira suggested.

"Yeah, that. I'll squash him to a pulp! What was he thinking? He could get seriously hurt!"

His mother wasn't doing anything to calm Ni down. She was stressed herself. She fidgeted in the grass.

"Are you feeling alright, Koli?" Penda called over to her.

"A few days ago I wouldn't have been worried," Koli moaned, "since he goes missing so often. But he's never been gone this long…"

"How long has it been, again?"

"Four days," Ni answered bluntly before his mother could respond.

"Well, you wouldn't _really_ squash him to a pulp," Nyonda mused. "Because, I mean, you'd technically be killing him, and you wouldn't kill your brother…"

"Yes, I know that, Nyonda," Ni snapped. "I wouldn't physically squash Malka to a pulp. That would just be disgusting."

He paced in silence for several more seconds, but then spoke up again. "I feel like I should be out there looking for him or something. I feel useless here."

"We all do, Ni," said Zira.

Ni turned with a huffy breath and paced the other direction, faster than before.

Nyonda whispered in Zira's ear. "I don't think that helped."

"I was just trying to…"

"I know you meant well. But maybe we should just…you know…be quiet for a while."

"Okay, okay, I'll be quiet."

For many minutes nothing could be heard except the quiet rustling of grass as Ni walked back and forth. Penda turned her head away and soon zoned out. Zira and Nyonda were too anxious to follow suit. Malka was missing, all because they hadn't been paying attention to him when they were by the river. They hadn't told anybody _exactly_ how Malka had disappeared. It was their guilty secret. When they nuzzled each other, they felt a little better. Even if Malka was gone, they still had Ni…and each other.

Presently they heard someone approaching. Zira and Nyonda looked up to see none other than Tipu trotting briskly through the grass. Koli looked up a moment later, and the cubs saw her dip her head in recognition of the princess. Tipu nodded back, not changing her course. She slowed to walk and strode straight up to Ni. He jumped when he saw her.

"T-T-Tipu!" he stuttered, wide-eyed. "I…I wasn't expecting to see you. What's up?"

Tipu's face was stern. "I need to talk with you in private."

"What? Oh…uh, sure."

The young gray lioness turned away and began to walk away from the others. Ni trotted after her. Zira made to stand up, but Nyonda stopped her.

"What part of 'I need to talk with you in private' don't you understand?" he hissed.

"I dunno, I guess I just wanted to…"

"Eavesdrop?"

Zira hung her head. "You're right."

"Ni's our friend. We shouldn't betray his trust."

Zira looked back at Ni. A hint of a smile flickered across her face. "I'll bet he likes her."

"Huh?"

"Did you even see him when she came up to him? Don't tell me he's not into her."

* * *

Once they were out of earshot, Tipu abruptly stopped walking. Ni almost ran into her. She turned around and looked him in the eyes. Her expression was much less formal now. His throat stuck. How could her yellow eyes be so deep, so powerful...so beautiful?

"Ya know how we're all technically adults now, right?"

"Yeah?"

"And since my mother's so…well…"

"High-ranking?"

"Yeah. Since Mother's so high-ranking, she spends lots of time talking with the males. Who're the leaders of the pride and all. Your father's one of them."

"Yeah…"

"Well, that means I've got an insider's perspective. I found out last night."

"Found out what?"

Tipu gave a strained-sounding sigh. "They're going to exile you at sundown."

Ni didn't say anything. Had he heard correctly? "Huh?"

"When guys come of age, they leave the pride. You know that."

"Oh…right…"

"Yeah. So you and Tai and Kipanga are going to have to leave tonight to go find a pride of your own. I wanted to give you a heads-up, ya know, so you won't be taken off guard tonight. So you'd have plenty of time to say your good-byes and all."

Ni felt numb. He'd almost forgotten that new adult males had to leave their home prides. He'd thought about it before, sure. But he'd never realized its seriousness. Here it was now, plain as day: he'd never see his family and friends again.

A lump formed in his throat. A list began to form in his mind of all the people he would miss. His mother Koli, for one. Sometimes he'd thought of her as a nuisance, true. But she'd always been a shoulder to cry on when he was a cub. She'd been a source of unconditional love. He would miss her guiding, soothing voice very much.

Then there was his little brother, Malka. Tears began to burn in Ni's eyes. Why did he have to go missing _now_, of all times! He wouldn't ever get to say goodbye to him. He'd loved Malka like a father when their real father was gone, which was pretty much all the time since he was one of the pride rulers. Malka may have been bothersome, but Ni had always loved him.

Zira and Nyonda. He'd only known them a few months, but they'd imprinted his heart in a way no one ever could. They were like siblings to him. He cared for both of them, from Zira's occasional temper to Nyonda's bothersome mane. He'd miss them.

Then there were his peers. Together with Ni, they made a quintet that had never been broken. Tai and Kipanga had been his buddies since cubhood. He was comforted that they would be traveling with him. He wouldn't want to leave the pride utterly alone. There was Kisa, the quiet and unassuming one of the group. She was the pride's best storyteller. Even as a cub she'd entertained her friends at night: her tales about the Stoneyards were pride favorites. He'd miss Kisa's stories. And then there was Tipu…

Lately he'd been having dreams about Tipu. He couldn't help it. Whenever she spoke to him he clammed up. He'd thought he was done for when he'd seized up in front of Nyonda and Zira a few days ago. Those yellow eyes…

"Ni?"

He snapped back to his senses. "What?"

Tipu was staring at him. "You looked like you spaced out."

"Oh, it's nothing. I'm fine."

"Okay, good. I was starting to get a little worried there."

Worried about him? His heart fluttered. "No, I'm okay. Thanks for telling me about tonight. I appreciate it."

"You're welcome. The pride's meeting at Shadow Gate at sunset. See ya there."

"'Kay. Bye."

"Bye."

He watched her run gracefully away through the grass, presumably to find the guys. He sighed. Oh, yes. He would miss Tipu.

* * *

"Finally!" Zira huffed as Ni turned around and began to walk their way. "I was afraid he'd never stop staring after her." 

Nyonda gave Zira a disapproving look.

Ni slowly walked back to the two of them. He looked dazed. When he reached them he sat down in front of them and just looked at them for a long time. After a minute he spoke.

"I've got something to tell you guys."

"Well, duh," Zira said. "Why else would Tipu have come looking for you?"

Nyonda elbowed her in the side.

Ni continued as if he hadn't noticed. "This is hard for me to say. But I'm an adult now, and that means I have to leave tonight."

* * *

**Author's note: Sorry to leave you guys hanging about what happened to Malka, but (1) it didn't seem to fit in this chapter and (2) I didn't want to simply re-tell Malka's encounter with the Pridelanders, since that story already exists. Read the awesome comic called "Simba's New Brother" if you'd like to know what happens next. I found a copy in TheUnknownSoul's photobucket account; sorry it won't let me put up the URL.**

**Thanks for reading! **


	13. Shadow Gate

Nobody said anything for several seconds. Zira and Nyonda looked stunned. Ni hung his head. "I wish I could have given you more warning. Surely you knew that when a lion's mane comes in, he has to find another pride?"

Zira and Nyonda shook their heads slowly.

Ni sighed. "I wish I didn't have to leave, you know I do! Guys…" He pulled the two of them into a hug. He realized with a twinge of embarrassment that he was crying again. Oh well. "Don't be mad. I'm going to miss you guys so much." He pulled away and looked at them. They'd grown so much since he'd first met them. All three of them had. Ni smiled weakly.

Nyonda noticed. "Ni, what is it?"

Ni gave a small chuckle. "I was just thinking about the night I rescued you guys from the Stoneyards. You were so little back then!"

Zira glared at him. "You were younger too."

"Well, yeah. But I haven't grown as much as you. Look! You're almost caught up to me now."

Nyonda snorted. "Yeah, right."

"No, seriously. Look." Ni moved over so that he was sitting at Nyonda's side. The latter actually wasn't all that much smaller.

"He's right, Nyonda," Zira commented. "You're bigger than you think."

Ni smiled, but then sadly looked Zira in the eyes. "I want to apologize to both of you."

"Apologize?" Nyonda asked. "For what?"

"For being boring so often. I realize Malka was a much better friend to you two than I was. I wasn't there with you often enough…I was always either alone or with my buddies. I wanted to say I'm sorry, and that I wish I'd spent more time with you."

Zira rubbed his chin with her forehead. "That's okay. We understand."

Ni blushed and purred a little when Zira rubbed him. You just had to love these two. "I'm glad."

* * *

The sky was turning red. As the glistening celestial orb touched the horizon, bolts of crimson light gilded the land. A roar echoed across the valley. The pride knew what a single roar at sundown meant: a coming-of-age ceremony was about to take place. The various pride members abandoned their current endeavors, whether they be napping, nursing or prowling, and began to drift towards the western end of the pride's territory, where Shadow Gate lay. 

Shadow Gate was a pair of boulders on the very edge of the pride's land. They stood in a wide pass between two of the mountains that ringed the valley. Passing between them was like passing through the gate to the valley. It was called Shadow Gate because the coming-of-age ceremony was always performed here at sunset, when the boulders cast long shadows stretching eastward. It was here that the Valley Pride congregated. A male lion stood on each of the two boulders, and another paced in front of them on the ground. This pale grey lion was the one that had roared.

Kahawia, Kijivu, and Kimanjano were the three brothers that ran the pride. Ni recognized his father, Kahawia, who stood on the rock on the left. He had Malka's pale brown fur and ear tufts, but his mane wasn't much darker than the rest of his fur, about the same color as Ni's mane. Because of his unimpressive coloring, he'd only scored with one lioness: Koli. Yet even though he had only one mate and two sons, he'd never had much time with them. Ruling a pride, the lands around it, and the other animals that inhabited those lands was demanding, after all. The three males split the workload evenly.

Kimanjano and Kijivu, who had darker manes, had been noticeably more successful with the lionesses. Their offspring were easy to tell apart: Kimanjano's cubs had his dark, yellowish fur while Kijivu's cubs were more silvery.

There was a sort of round clearing forming in front of Shadow Gate. The pride formed a ring around the stones, with only the males inside. As the friends reached the edge of the clearing, Ni stopped and turned to Zira and Nyonda, who had been walking with him on his right.

"From here I go on alone," he told them quietly. "Stay here with Penda."

"I guess this is goodbye," Nyonda muttered dejectedly.

"Maybe when it's your turn to find a pride, you can visit me."

Zira pouted. "You guys keep leaving me. Soon I won't have any friends left."

Suddenly Ni swept them into an embrace. "Don't worry, guys," he whispered. "I'll be fine. Things will work out, I know it. I couldn't have had better friends." He pulled away from them, shot them one last sorrowful glance, and walked towards the boulders.

Zira and Nyonda walked along the edge of the crowd until they saw Penda. They sat down next to her without a word. The older lioness looked at them questioningly for a moment, but then turned her attention back to the scene before them.

Finally the last of the pride had arrived at Shadow Gate. Ni, Kipanga, and Tai sat down in front of Kijivu. When everybody was in place, the older male stopped walking back and forth and stood directly in front of the three younger males. The crowd hushed.

"Tonight we honor these three young lions' successful transition into adulthood," Kijivu recited. His tenor voice reverberated through the still evening air. "They have survived for three years in this pride, learning what there is to know about life in the outside world."

And Zira'd known him for less than four months of those years. Ni was right. They hadn't nearly had enough time together…

"Youth is a simple, preparatory time of one's life," Kimanjano contributed next. "But adulthood isn't so easy: they won't have their families to support them."

Or vice versa. Right now she felt like she was the one losing all her means of support, one friend at a time.

It was Kahawia's turn. "Tai, Kipanga, Ni," he called, addressing the youths, "the time has come for you to set out into the world to find your own pride. Go forth with the blessings of your pride."

First Malka. Now Ni. Would Nyonda be next? It was as if the ground was crumbling away beneath her feet, soon to give way to a deep black hole of loneliness that threatened to swallow her up…

The entire pride spoke as one:

"May your journey be successful. May your destination be fruitful. May your future be joyful. Amani!"

Amani. Peace. How about anything _but_ peace. The pride members were now cheering loudly as the three young males stood and passed between the rocks. She put her paws over her ears, closed her eyes and hummed loudly. She had to drown out the sound. It was too happy…Why couldn't they realize that she couldn't be happy? How could she be happy when life was ripping at her heart, piece by piece?

She crouched down and huddled on the ground, wishing that the world would just disappear, or else that she would disappear from the world. She ignored Nyonda's paw on her back. She might as well get used to being alone. She heard someone crying close at hand, but it took her a while to realize that it was her.

The applause gradually died down to a murmur as the pride began to dissipate again. Zira didn't see this; she heard it, barely. The paw on her back had started stroking her gently. The action was unbelievably soothing. She found her clenched paws sliding off her head as her body subconsciously settled into a more comfortable position. She felt Nyonda pull her closer. Gratefully she consented and curled up next to him, placing her head next to his other forepaw. His arm was nestled surprisingly comfortably over her back. _He understands,_ Zira thought. At least she had Nyonda for a little while longer.

He leaned down over her head. She could tell because her neck suddenly felt warmer and his bangs tickled her eyebrows. He leaned in closer…and she felt his tongue on her forehead.

That was unexpected. All of a sudden Zira felt funny. Many thoughts rolled through her mind at once. She was wildly joyous that Nyonda was there for her. For a fraction of a second she was happy. But Ni and Malka appeared in her mind's eye, and just as quickly she became utterly distraught. She felt a new wave of tears leak out from beneath her closed eyelids. What was wrong with her?

She felt something small and wet land on her head. Then another. With a shock she realized Nyonda was crying too. She opened her eyes and looked up at him. He sniffled a bit and rubbed his nose.

"Sorry," he whispered. "Got a little emotional."

"No. Really?" She turned away and looked out between the two great stones. The sun was already gone, though the sky was still red. They were alone.

She heard Nyonda sniff again. "I'm gonna miss that guy," he muttered. "If only it didn't have to be this way."

Suddenly it clicked into place in Zira's mind. They were alone.

"It doesn't," she said, turning back to him.

"What?"

"It doesn't have to be this way," she hissed. "We can hunt, right? We've already lost one friend, and there's no way we're losing another one!"

Nyonda's eyes widened. "Did you seriously just say what I was secretly thinking just now?"

In a flash the two were on their feet, bolting through Shadow Gate.

* * *

Ni suddenly stopped walking. "Did you guys hear something?" 

Tai gave him a questioning look. "Uh…no?"

Kipanga pricked his ears. "I don't hear anything."

"No, no, wait. There it is again!" He was positive he'd heard something. Someone was calling his name.

"You sure?"

"Shush, I'm trying to hear. Yes…yes, I do hear something. Tai, listen."

Tai followed his brother's lead. "Hey, yeah! There it is!"

Ni said nothing. He was positive now that somebody was calling him. Was he imagining things? He thought he heard two distinct voices now…two very familiar voices…

Just then all three males fell silent, staring at the crest of the hill behind them.

"Tell me this isn't happening," Kipanga groaned.

Two cubs were running down the hill; one was dark tan, the other almost black. They were about the oldest cubs could be before you stopped calling them cubs: the black one had a mane already growing.

"Ni, wait!"

"Ni! We're coming with you!"

Kipanga and Tai looked accusatorily at Ni. He looked dumbfounded for a moment. After a second he came to his senses.

"Uh…no," he said loudly. "You're not."

"Yes we are!"

The two younger lions skidded to a stop in front of Ni. The black one shook his insanely long bangs out of his face.

"You're the last friend we've got," the tan female said. "We're not giving you up. We aren't afraid to contribute with the hunting, either, if you're worried about more mouths to feed."

"Ni, tell these kids to haul tail back home," Tai whispered in his friend's ear.

The female stood up straight. "I heard that."

"And besides," the male put in, "if I stay, I'll be stuck with Tomo as my exile buddy when that time comes."

Tai tensed. "Worst half-brother ever."

Ni looked thoughtful. "So if Tomo doesn't have an exile buddy…"

"He'll be stuck at home with the girls!" Kipanga concluded triumphantly. "Ooh, he'll hate that."

"Kid, you're a genius!" Tai exclaimed, slapping the black cub on the back. "Welcome to the club!"


	14. Epilogue

The sound of grass rustling made Koli look up. She could barely see a lioness coming towards her. She could tell from the lioness' dark pelt that it was Penda.

"Hey, Penda," she called. "Over here."

The darker lioness emerged from the grass. She was walking extremely slowly. Her head was close to the ground. When she looked up, her eyes were red and puffy from crying. Koli was startled. Since when had she been like this?

"Yes, Koli?"

"How…er, how have you been doing?"

Penda plopped down heavily next to Koli. "Funny. You've lost both your kids too, yet you don't seem affected."

"Wait…what?" She hadn't been expecting such a brusque greeting.

"I haven't seen Nyonda or Zira since last night."

"Yeah, so? They probably just wanted some alone time after the ceremony. They were really good buddies with Ni."

"Exactly that. I think they followed him."

Koli gave her a blank look. "Huh?"

"I believe that they followed Ni through the Gate last night."

She had to be joking. "But…oh, come on, that's ridiculous. They're not that crazy."

Penda glared at Koli. "You don't know my daughter."

Stubborn, eh? "Oh, I don't?"

"No, you don't."

"Well, excuse me! You have one night without your kid and you go all teary-eyed. I go five days without my youngest. I know he's not coming back or he would have come home by now. Now my eldest is gone forever to find another pride. How do you think I feel, knowing I'll never see either of my sons again?"

"Oh, so you think you're so special, losing both your children! Well, guess what? I've lost mine too! They're with your precious eldest, so don't expect them to be coming back any sooner than yours! Which, if my calculations are correct, is never!"

"Yeah? Yeah, you know what? I'm not talking to you." Koli stood up quickly and began to stomp away.

"Sure, you do that!" Penda called after her. "I'm not talking to you either." She turned her face away from where Koli had disappeared. She didn't understand. Penda knew that the only thing that would make Zira and Nyonda run away from home was the loss of their last friend. The three of them weren't coming back. Malka was still a questionable case; he could technically still come home. Surely she herself had the worse deal…

"Excuse me, madam."

Penda looked up at the sound of the strange, proper-sounding voice that seemed to have come from above her head. Was she losing her mind? A flash of blue crossed her vision, and the next second there was a small blue bird with an enormous orange beak sitting on the ground in front of her. A bird addressing a lion? She'd never heard of such a thing.

"Er…can I help you?"

"My apologies for intruding. Would you happen to be acquainted with a young lion cub known as Malka?"

What timing. "Why, yes. I just saw his mother go that way." She turned her head in the direction Koli had taken.

"Thank you, madam," the bird said, sweeping into an elegant bow. "King Mufasa sends his regards." He leapt into the air and flapped off after Koli as quickly as he'd come. What a nice, courteous little bird. Too bad she hadn't caught his name.

Anyway.

Now that she'd gotten a little distracted, she could look on the issue with more logical eyes. Much as she wanted to go after Zira and Nyonda, she knew it was illogical. The two of them had been making much headway with their hunting lessons, and they would be well taken care of if they were in a group with three others, especially if those other lions were older than them. Why was she worrying?

Maybe she just needed somebody to give her affection to. Her blood daughter and adopted son were both gone now. There was nothing for her here anymore. She was no longer bound to this valley where she had never belonged.

She began to walk through the grass, slowly at first, then faster. Soon she was running. Her legs seemed to know where to take her. Before she knew it she found herself before the Gate. She dashed through it without stopping. She wasn't chasing after her cubs. Only one thought, one word, one name, echoed in her mind.

Ninaku.


End file.
